Issue(s): Marvel Team-Up #103
Cover Date: Mar 81
Title: "The Assassin Academy"
Credits:
David Michelinie - Writer
David Bingham - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker

Review/plot:
A former cellmate of Scott Lang shows up at his house. He's perfectly friendly, but assumes Scott is still crooked and invites him to join him on a new scheme, which is working at the Taskmaster's academy. Scott's former criminal life and his contacts are interesting, and should have been explored more. Anyway, Scott's friend is killed for having left the academy without permission and Scott decides to investigate.

Meanwhile, JJ sends Peter to investigate an area of Manhattan where the crime rate has mysteriously dropped. Working at the Daily Bugle is an easy way to get Spider-Man involved in plots, but it doesn't really make sense for an editor to send a photographer to investigate a no-crime zone. What's he going to do, take pictures of all the hub caps on the cars?

Anyway, of course they team up...

...and fight the Taskmaster.

It's cool that they defeat the Taskmaster by shrinking him down to ant-size, something that i don't think Henry Pym had ever done to a villain to date.

Of course the Taskmaster escapes in the end, because he's too cool a villain to be locked away in jail.

The issue starts with Ant-Man busy at work repairing something.

We then learn that it's his daughter Cassie's ROM toy (it's not a "doll"!).

A little weird that in the Marvel Universe there's a toy based on a creature that the public thinks is a rampaging killer robot, but i know it's just a joke. I'm also a little creeped out by Scott showing up to greet his daughter wearing nothing but a towel, but i guess there's nothing actually wrong with it.

It's a well done issue of Team-Up, not as fantastic as the Claremont/Byrne run but still better than average. The cover, on the other hand, has some terrible dialogue, with the Taskmaster saying "Spiders have to be bound! But ants -- ants can be squished!". Spiders have to be bound? What does that even mean? It makes the Taskmaster sound like a raving loony, and he's actually anything but.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Peter Parker is working at the Daily Bugle. Following the MCP and the Index and placing this in a gap that occurs during Amazing Spider-Man #218.

References:

• The Taskmaster previously appeared in Avengers #195-196.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Hank Pym actually did that trick in the avengers cartoon (the good cartoon)

Were they trying to establish Taskmaster as a regular Ant-Man villain? Because as I recall, this comes in between his two appearances in Avengers, both against Scott Lang.

"Scott's former criminal life and his contacts is interesting, and should have been explored more."
Well, at Marvel Studios had the same opinion! :)

Luckily Scott knows a guy...

Regarding the ROM toy: well Spider-Man is a threat or menace...so if he gets toys and merch, ROM deserves the same respect.

Taskmaster straight up beats Spider-man here in a one on one fight.